


Like Cold Coffee

by natashabartin



Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, literally there is no plot, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 18:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2161239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashabartin/pseuds/natashabartin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter likes Luke. Luke likes Peter. But it's never that simple, is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Cold Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for [bbb35](bbb35.tumblr.com) on Tumblr.
> 
> Forgive this fic in whole, I've been swamped lately D: not to mention it's my first work (as in, first work _ever_ ) for these two jerks. But, if you're reading try to enjoy it anyway!
> 
> Title is from [Cold Coffee by Ed Sheeran](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbdemZcycYI).

Peter has a love-hate relationship with just about everything and everyone, including himself.

What can he say? He can be pessimistic. After all, his life's been close to shit so far--first his parents, then his uncle, now having to work in close quarters with death by being a superhero. In retrospect, becoming Spider-Man isn't the most brilliant decision he's ever made, but it's what Uncle Ben would have wanted. He believed that if you have the power to help someone, then you should do it.

That moral--and many of his others--have been passed onto Peter. And he works his hardest to stay true to those morals, to do his best, day in and day out, even when it gets hard and he's tired. Uncle Ben has always given him strength, and is still doing so, even in death.

Back to the original point, though. Peter doesn't have a love-hate relationship with _everything_ and _everyone_. Only almost.

One of the people he doesn't with, is Luke.

From the moment Peter saw him in costume, he knew that he was in trouble. There was an instant physical attraction, like Peter just looked at him and everything--clicked. Slotted into place, almost. Peter knew he wanted to get to know him better, and his attraction only got worse when him and Luke started to spend more and more time together, once Peter joined their team.

There's no more denying it. Peter is absolutely _smitten_.

But of course he can't deny it, not after the helicarrier crashes into the Hudson and Luke _kisses him_. As in, straight up, hands on Peter's hip, pulling him in close, kisses him. In front of their team.

It had been heat of the moment. Peter realizes that. They've always had that tension between them (at least, _he_ thinks so), and it had just reached a boiling point. The situation was stressful, Peter hadn't come out right away, so Luke had kissed him out of relief. They hadn't even gotten to talk about it before Peter figured out that his team would have to move in with him, and a romantic relationship would just be too awkward.

It was easier to accept the fact that the kiss meant nothing than to think anything else, because that would mean sitting around and liking each other but not being able to be together, which is stupid.

So now Peter can't make eye contact with Luke without remembering how his lips and hands felt, how there was _something_ between them, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. And now he's scared he won't feel that with Luke again, that they'll never kiss again, or even really _touch_ again. It's a terrible feeling.

Like right now. In training, they're fighting the easy but entertaining LMDs. Luke is absolutely _killing_ it, like they rest of him, but Peter keeps getting distracted, so he's killing it slightly less.

Peter's extremely physically attracted to Luke. He was ever since he saw him--like, come on, just _look_ at him. Tall and muscular. Also, he probably has the biggest, brightest smile Peter has ever had the pleasure to witness. That physical attraction only got stronger as he became emotionally attracted to Luke, and now, well. He's here.

Getting his _ass kicked_ by an _LMD_.

Sam shoots it away from him. "Jesus, Parker, you're _sucking_ ," he comments, stating the obvious, as usual.

Peter glares at him through his mask, but he doesn't pay attention to him for long, because suddenly he hears Luke say: "Yeah, and not in the _good_ way."

Peter is grateful for his mask for a lot of reasons, the main one being that it hides his identity and protects his normal life and his friends and family. Another reason being that nobody can see his facial expression, and also his _blushes_. He thanks himself, again, for making a mask that covers his whole face, because he would be _extra_ embarrassed if anybody could see him right now.

Did Luke _seriously_ just say that? No. No, he didn't. Peter's probably hallucinating or something.

Another LMD attacks him, and the most he would have walked away with is a bump on the head, but he manages to duck in time, which he's grateful for. Danny takes it out for him this time, punching it and making it slam right into the wall of the training room, smashing into bits.

"Distracted?" he asks, but doesn't wait for an answer. Just runs off, continuing training, and Peter stands there like a complete idiot because he _is_ a complete idiot.

He tries to get back into it. He throws punches and kicks, uses his webbing to throw LMDs together. And it's fun, it really is, but he could watch Luke train for _hours_ in this foreign training room. (Ever since the helicarrier crashed, they've been training in a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility at an undisclosed location that Natasha Romanoff was very pissed off to hear that they've gained access to. Apparently, she used to live here, but now spends most of her time at Avengers tower.)

While waiting for another wave, Luke comes up to him. "Bit off your game?" he asks, clapping Peter on the back.

"Bit," he agrees. And Peter knows that what comes out of Luke's mouth next is a joke, but it still startles him, and he reacts like a deer in the headlights, which is embarrassing _as fuck_.

"I was probably distracting you, huh?" He's grinning, so he's probably joking, but it looks _so damn close_ to a leer that Peter's probably gonna have a motherfucking heart attack. Jesus, he knows that Peter still likes him, doesn't he? This isn't good. This'll make things awkward and then they'll stop being friends and Peter doesn't want that--

They're interrupted by the next wave of LMDs, but that doesn't stop him from thinking about it for the rest of the day.

***

Two days later, they're in school, with Mary Jane, Harry, and Ava. As always, Ava and Mary Jane are talking about homework and current events, while Harry and Luke boom about things that Peter can't really say he has any interest in--football? Boxing? Something like that.

Luke's good with his friends. He's loud, but knows when to quiet down, and he's friendly and kind. He's good with Aunt May, too, and hardly gets into trouble with S.H.I.E.L.D. though it would seem like he wants to, sometimes. He's practically perfect, especially for Peter.

He eats a lot, and can be annoying about calories and protein, and he uses all the hot water in the shower and--okay, Peter does _not_ want to think about what takes him so long in there, because those are some _impure thoughts_ about one of his best friends and he shouldn't be having him. He's going to stop thinking, and maybe breathing, now.

"Hey, so, you still like that Gwen chick in your fifth period?" Harry asks, nudging at Peter. "She seems nice."

"She's very nice," MJ butts in, giving Peter a wink before returning to her conversation with Ava.

Peter shakes his head. "She's not really... what I'm looking for right now," he decides, and does his best not to glance over at Luke and subconsciously hint that _he's_ what Peter's looking for. "I mean, she _is_ pretty amazing, but, you know." He shrugs, because he really doesn't actually know.

Luke's next words sound overly casual, as if he's trying too hard. "What are you looking for right now?" he asks.

Harry sounds genuinely curious. "Yeah, Pete. Like, the last time you kissed someone was in the seventh grade during spin the bottle; I think you need to get out there a bit. Find a nice girl. Or guy. Or both, whatever floats your boat." He grins.

Now Luke looks at him, raises an eyebrow. Yeah, so, of course Peter hasn't told Harry or Mary Jane about his and Luke's kiss--they would ask the circumstances and why they aren't together and everything would get messy and complicated. He can hardly say that it was a heat of the moment thing because Luke had assumed he was dead.

"I don't know if I'm looking for anything right now," Peter answers, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, does that mean you've already found it?" Mary Jane once again joins in, her voice taking on a teasing tone, and _why_ is she listening to both of their conversations at once? Fucking reporters.

Now Peter might be wrong, but he's _pretty_ sure he sees Ava glance between Luke and him, a slightly suspicious expression worn on her face. But no--she can't possibly be picking anything up, because there's nothing there. Peter's just a hopeless dreamer who likes to think that Luke likes him back, but there's nothing more to it than that.

"Don't you think I would be with them, if I found it?" Peter quips. It's a worthless argument though, because both Ava and MJ roll their eyes in unison.

"Please," Ava says, "you're practically the definition of awkward. If you liked somebody, you'd never go for them. You'd need somebody else to take the lead. I think we _all_ know that."

There was something about the way she worded that that made Peter suspicious, but he doesn't dwell on it, because Harry starts teasing him about being the submissive type.

***

"You look good in those jeans."

Peter blinks, and turns around to look at Luke.

He's not grinning, and obviously not joking, but Peter lets out a semi-awkward laugh. "Ha, yeah, they're really old and ratty," he replies, as if Luke was being sarcastic. It's easier to process, even if it might not be reality. "Found them at the bottom of my drawer this morning."

"They might not look so hot," Luke agrees, as he walks past Peter, on his way to class. "But you do." With that, he's gone before Peter can say anything; not that he will be able to speak for the next few hours anyway.

Plus, then, just the next day, they were out doing superhero-y things, and when they stopped to take a break, Peter pulled up his mask, like he usually does. It gets sweaty and gross and hot under there, so it's only natural for him to lift it whenever he gets the chance.

"You do that a lot," Luke says.

Peter shrugs. "It gets hot under here."

Luke's silent for a moment, and they're both still catching his breath.

"Makes you look kinda hot," he says, finally, and it looked almost like he was preventing himself from saying it until now.

Peter can't help the way his face turns bright red. Immediately, he tugs his mask back down. "Only kinda?" he tries to joke, but it's an obvious fail, and even _Luke_ is looking slightly embarrassed. "Um. Right. We should get going."

Luke doesn't compliment him again.

***

Danny has always been the wise one of the group. Ava's the smart one, Luke's the strong one, Peter's the leader, and Sam's the comic relief. They all fit together, perfectly, even if living together is a pain in the ass.

One day, soon after they move in, Peter interrupts Danny's mediation, by trying to get into his own room to grab some notes he left in there. Danny doesn't seem all that frustrated--hello, meditation--so Peter's glad about that.

"Is something troubling you, friend?" Danny asks, sounding like a hundred year-old man, as he always seems to when he's about to go into wisdom mode.

Peter's not sure if he should confide in Danny or not. It might be stupid, but it might also be helpful--and, anyway, Danny could talk some sense into him. "Well, yeah. Uh, you remember when the helicarrier sunk, and Luke and I....?" He presses his fingers together, an obvious sign for kissing.

Danny raises an eyebrow, and he looks entirely amused, though he's obviously trying to hide it. "Yes."

"I... like him," Peter confesses, unable to look Danny in the eye. "As in, I can't get him out of my head, and lately, it seems like he likes me back, and it _feels_ that way, but I know that dating would be awkward, since we _work_ together and all. So, us being together doesn't make sense, and neither does liking him, and... yeah." Peter gives a half-hearted shrug.

Danny responds almost immediately. "'Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love'," he replies. "As in--it doesn't have to make sense for you to like somebody, or for somebody to like you. I would still go for it. You never know. Just tell him the truth."

"That's easier said than done," Peter retorts. The truth has always been hard, and it's something Peter isn't very good at on the best of days.

"I'm well aware. But in K'un-Lun, my homeland, truth is honored above all else. Honesty in a moment where pride and stubbornness is so easily clung to is the sign of a worthy warrior. You have pride, Peter, but you can't let that hold you back." Danny's looking at him expectantly now.

Peter pauses. "Easier said than done," Peter repeats, murmuring it under his breath before leaving his room.

***

The feeling of dread whenever he thinks about the kiss around Luke is getting worse.

He's feeling it right now, while he sits with his team, playing video games. Ava is hardly putting any effort into it (but still winning), Danny is lounging in the armchair and keeps correcting how they all play, Sam is getting incredibly competitive, and Luke keeps laughing at Sam. Peter is mostly feeling awkward, half concentrating on the game, half on Luke.

"Oh, come the fuck on!" Sam yells, and Peter's glad is aunt isn't home right now. "I totally fucking had you! That's _bullshit_."

"Quit it with the potty mouth, will you?" Ava snaps, glancing up from her book for a second. It's astounding, the way she's pretty much ignoring the game, and playing as _Princess Peach_ , of all people, yet still kicking their asses.

"'Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer'," Danny quotes, apparently agreeing with Sam.

Ava scoffs and looks at the TV screen. "Wait, are those little faces lives? Where did all of your guys' go?" she asks, apparently confused. Sam lets out a little sob, and Luke groans, but Peter knows she's joking from the smirk at their reactions. She's always been incredible at multi-tasking, and at video games. Peter needs to hear her video game origin story.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," Peter announces as soon as Ava kills him off. He sets his controller onto the coffee table, and sulks out into the kitchen. Finally, _alone_. While he enjoys hanging out with his friends, he doesn't enjoy _living_ with them. As in, them being around twenty-four-seven and always being loud and giving him a constant migraine.

He grabs a glass and fills it with water from the tap. He doesn't even drink from it, just holds it in his hand as he stands, able to hear his friends out in the living room. Outside, in his tiny backyard, he can see Aunt May's small garden. It's dead now, and she's been meaning to clean it up for months now, but apparently has never found the time.

Her and Uncle Ben used to garden together. Peter remembers. Back when they used to rub on their sunscreen and get to work, even let Peter pull out weeds when he was little. Uncle Ben's gardening gloves are still hanging in the basement, next to Aunt May's. She hasn't gotten rid of a lot of his stuff, even still.

"Damn, Ava kicks ass at practically _everything_ , even Super Smash Bros," Luke complains, and Peter hadn't even noticed he was in the kitchen. Startled, Peter almost drops his glass, but manages to prevent it. Luke notices. "What were you thinking about?"

Oh god, Luke is standing _way_ too close right now, Peter could just scoot to the side a little bit and they'd be pressed up against each other. He could just melt into Luke's body heat, right now, let all his memories fade away, unable to hurt him anymore.

He doesn't. Instead, he tenses, and doesn't look over. He doesn't need to, not to know that there's a frown on his teammate's face. "Just, uh, thinking about school. Stuff like that." The lie is so obvious, so blatant, it almost makes Peter cringe.

"If you didn't wanna tell me, you could just say so." Luke's hand is on Peter's shoulder then, and, damn, most of his other friend's wouldn't be so outright forgiving about him straight up lying to them. Peter looks at him then, needing to tilt his head to look up at him, and he's hit with the sudden remembrance of their kiss. It was so sudden, and scary, and fucking _perfect_.

Peter's probably reading into wrong, but he's positive that Luke's thinking about the same thing. And that hand on Peter's shoulder is moving, slowly but surely, and he's pretty sure he can't breathe anymore. How do you do that again? Does it even _matter_?

Luke's thumb brushes against Peter's neck, and that's when Peter starts to cry.

It's so goddamn embarrassing. But all the memories can't be suppressed anymore, and the moment that Luke touches him, he feels _safe_. What's worse, is that Luke doesn't even say anything, doesn't give any indication to what he's thinking, just pulls Peter in close and holds him.

Peter doesn't remember the last time he cried, but he's sure he hasn't cried like _this_ since Uncle Ben died. He tries to pull away a couple minutes later, but Luke just keeps him there. "It's okay, Peter," Luke assures him. He rests his face on the top of Peter's head, and lets Peter cling to him.

He probably stays there for about five or so minutes before forcing himself to calm down, because this is ridiculous and anybody could walk into the kitchen at any time now. So he pulls away, wiping at his nose and grimacing at the wet spot on Luke's shirt. "Sorry," he says, nose obviously stuffed.

Luke looks so concerned, and that comforts Peter even further. "What was that about? Are you okay?"

Peter nods, trying to turn away. "Yeah. Yeah. I just... I started thinking about a long time ago, and, you know, it can get overwhelming, with... everything."

Luke lets him go then, still looking worried for Peter's wellbeing. "If you need to talk--"

"Looks like _somebody's_ making me a grilled cheese!" Ava shouts smugly as she comes into the kitchen, and Peter tries his best to make it look like he _hadn't_ just been crying on Luke's shoulder.

She doesn't even seem to notice, and Sam enters soon after, pouting and yelling about how she _had_ to have cheated, because there was no way she was that good at video games.

Luke asks if he wants to talk later, but Peter brushes it off to save some of his own dignity.

***

As far as Peter can tell, crying on Luke's shoulder that day was a good thing. Being so easily accepted made him feel better than he ever has, and so the previous awkwardness that had flooded his and Luke's relationship has practically disappeared.

They hang out a lot more, and they don't have deep, life-changing talks, but they have fun together. Danny gives him this questioning look whenever they're around each other--it's obvious that Peter hasn't told Luke yet, or he would have went to Danny and whined about the rejection.

Peter can _finally_ look him in the eye and not feel that dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He can hang out with him and not feel awkward, which is weird, because he would think that crying on Luke's shoulder would have the opposite effect.

All of them are watching a movie, one night; the Apparition, which is slow-paced and boring, in Peter's opinion. Luke has his arms stretched out on the back of the couch, not around any of their shoulders, but by just moving forward a little bit, they could be, especially Peter's.

Slowly, one by one, each of their team resign, Ava being, predictably, first. "This is boring and slow," she comments as she walks away. "Night."

Next is Sam. "Alright, as much as I love sitting in the dark eating gummy bears and watching dumb movies with attractive people in them," he begins, getting up from his spot on the floor, empty bag of gummy bears crinkling in his hand. "I think I'm gonna turn in. And by turn in, I mean go do something more interesting. Have fun with your boring movie!"

Danny is last. "Tell me how it ends?" he suggests as he gets up from his usual spot in the armchair, and the tone of his voice implies that he doesn't really care whether they tell him the end or not. He bids them goodnight before ascending the stairs, leaving Luke and Peter alone.

"This is pretty boring," Luke admits a few minutes later.

"Agreed. I don't know why we've wasted this much time on it in the first place," Peter responds, and he realizes just how close they're sitting. He doesn't scoot away, though, against better judgment.

"It's probably because you think the main guy is cute," Luke teases, almost hesitantly at first, gaining more confidence as he speaks. "And that guy who was in Harry Potter."

"Tom Felton is attractive to even the straightest of men," Peter argues, turning slightly to look Luke in the high. Things are easier in the dark, for the same reason that it's easier with a mask; people can't see you as well, as clearly, so you can be whoever you want without having to worry about deep speculation on your character.

There's a glisten in Luke's eye that Peter can barely see by the dim light of the television set, but it's still obviously there. "Yeah, but you're not the straightest, are you?" he asks, and by now he's leaning in close.

Usually, Peter would back down, but he doesn't. Maybe he's tired, maybe it was the gummy bears that Sam shared with him, but he's _confident_ in this. Though he's sure he'll regret it in the morning. "Nope," he agrees, and that's when Luke kisses him. Again.

MJ and Ava were right about Peter needing somebody else to make the first move, needing to practically take control of the relationship. Because, if Luke hadn't kissed him, he wouldn't have a lapful of Peter right now. "Jesus," Peter murmurs, between kisses. "I didn't think you actually liked me."

"Why would I kiss you if I didn't like you?" Luke laughs, clutching at Peter's hips.

Peter feels stupid. His theory about the kiss being heat of the moment seems so _dumb_ right now, and him and Luke not being able to be together seems like one of the most idiotic things that the world's ever tried to conceive. He wants Luke. Luke wants him.

And fuck, that's is a _great_ feeling.

But then Sam comes back downstairs.

"Jesus!" he shouts, falling down the last couple of them, hand over his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving, bye, won't even get my drink I came for, _continue on_!" He scrambles to get back up the stairs, eyes still covered.

Luke and Peter are silent, until they both start laughing. Peter leans his head on Luke's shoulder, still on his lap. "Jeez," he sighs. "We're never gonna get privacy in this house, are we?"

"Nope," Luke agrees, and Peter gets off his lap. "Damn--but we should do that again sometime. When we're alone."

Peter grins back at him. "You wish," he teases, though he seconds that _damn_.

***

For the duration of them living together, they both agree that it wouldn't be best to start dating in that time. Aunt May probably wouldn't approve, and the team would most definitely get annoyed by it.

***

Peter won't admit that he's a bit disappointed to find out the reason why Luke takes so long in the shower, though Luke does give him a look that’s suspiciously close to a leer when he explains why.

***

"They keep a copy," Peter begins, "of my house. I don't know if that's creepy or convenient."

"Convenient, in this case," Danny replies, staring up at the house. "I don't think your Aunt May would have appreciated coming home to a completely destroyed house."

"When she does get here, she's going to find out we're not going to be living here anymore," Ava says, hands on her hips. "I don't know what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s having us tell her, but I'm sure it'll be hilariously fake. I'm surprised she hasn't found out about you yet."

"Peter isn't the best at hiding things," Luke agrees, and Peter can't tell if he's teasing or not.

"He's not good at hiding that he likes you, especially," Sam mumbles under his breath, and Ava snickers at that. Sam still has the burnt cake sitting in his hands, and there's still a little flame on one of the deflated edges.

"What? I'm _great_ at hiding things," Peter argues, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Okay, maybe not about Luke, but--"

"Luke and Peter, sitting on the couch, K-I-S-S-I-N-- _ouch_!" Ava cuts Sam off by hitting him on the shoulder, nearly causing the cake to topple to the ground. Sam pouts dramatically, but shuts up.

"That actually reminds me," Luke says. It's obvious that he's trying to pass for casual, by the way he's leaning on the porch and making some exaggerated hand motions. Sam rolls his eyes and Danny smirks at them. "I've been meaning to ask you. You wanna go out sometime?"

Peter gives him a look that screams _duh_ , even though his stomach is filled with butterflies at the moment, as cliché as that sounds. "Yeah, stupid," he retorts, and Luke smiles, and--

"Jesus, will you just, kiss, or whatever?" Ava says, sounding completely exasperated, and they're surprised that _she_ was the one finally reach a breaking point.

"Now that that's decided," Danny starts, "why don't we go play video games?"


End file.
